A recurring problem in traffic studies of Broadband Integrated Services Digital Networks (B-ISDN) is the finding of methods by which traffic can be smoothed so that the network does not have to concern itself with extreme variations in bit-rates. Heretofore, this problem was addressed by means of flow control (using a leaky bucket and its variants) and congestion control (e.g. distributed source control, stop and go queuing, feedback control methods and dynamic window methods).
The present invention addresses a problem similar in nature to flow control but which is very different in terms of its objectives and scope.